Amended sex offender laws could gain ground

By Brooke Crum

Published 8:52 am, Thursday, September 12, 2013

Nederland's new city ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of dance studios, libraries and churches could increase rather than reduce danger, according to one legal expert.

The rule, approved unanimously by city council on Monday, restricts sex offenders from living near places where four or more children would gather, such as twirling studios, karate academies and any other facilities that offer art or sport classes, said City Manager Chris Duque.

That restriction could have the consequence of preventing convicted sex offenders from reintegrating into society and curtailing their ability to rehabilitate, said Kellen Zale, an assistant professor of law at the University of Houston.

This ordinance "might have the opposite consequence by making these people pariahs," Zale said. "They're going to be put out in the boonies" far from their parole officers, jobs and rehabilitation centers.

Nederland resident Buzzy Mitchell said the ordinance is unfair to people who have served their time.

"I just don't feel like a sex offender is different than these other offenders we have, and putting them so many feet from where children gather seems like a poor deterrent," he said.

Conversely, resident Shelby Fontenot did not think the ordinance was strong enough.

"They need to be even farther away than that from children," she said. "It's temptation for them."